Recently, we hosted an insightful webinar in collaboration with getchee, showcasing the transformative power of location data in addressing retail industry challenges. This highly informative session attracted industry leaders and enthusiasts alike, all keen to explore the potential of location data.
With several years of experience under their belts, our speakers imparted key insights and methodologies, highlighting how location data can be a significant driver in refining retail business strategy. More than just a presentation, the session provided an interactive platform for knowledge exchange, fostering thought leadership and promoting innovation in the dynamic retail sector.
Here are 5 key lessons we learned from the event:
1. The Indispensable Role of Location Data in Emerging Markets
Location data holds critical importance for retail profitability, especially in rapidly evolving markets. This data can overcome the shortcomings of traditional demographic information by providing granular insights into urban populations. Moreover, location data is scalable, cost-effective, and can complement other data sources to enhance customer segmentation, gauge network performance, and facilitate numerous business operations.
2. Understanding Post-Pandemic Consumer Behavior with Mobile Location Data
In the wake of COVID-19, the change in consumer behavior has been significant, and understanding these shifts is vital for retailers. Location data offers an effective way to analyze these changes at both micro and macro levels. For example, Quadrant's historical location data can aid businesses in determining if their sales strategies align with actual consumer behavior, allowing them to optimize their models in a fiercely competitive industry.
The visualized mobility data shows a shift in consumers' movement patterns pre- and post-pandemic. This analysis indicates that the service area of stores has broadened as customers, possibly influenced by remote work adoption, are more willing to travel further for shopping. Consequently, this trend has disadvantaged retail outlets in prime commercial areas while favoring those situated in suburban regions.
3. Identifying Current Consumer Mobility Patterns
In the increasingly complex retail landscape, location data serves as a dynamic tool for understanding consumer behavior on a granular level. Real-time location data allows retailers to assess consumer behavior by varying scales - from specific hours of the day to different quarters of the year or distinct seasons. This provides invaluable insights into peak shopping hours, seasonal trends, and quarterly performance. For instance, retailers can identify patterns such as increased footfall during holiday seasons, higher evening traffic for certain outlets, or an uptick in visits during sales quarters. By accurately tracking these patterns over time, retailers can tailor their operational strategies, marketing efforts, and inventory management to align with consumer habits, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction and higher profitability.
4. Maximizing ROI and Reducing Investment Risk through Raw Location Data
Location data can enhance retail strategies by overlaying footfall data with a map that includes a brand's infrastructure and competitor locations. When combined with other data types like demographics and infrastructure information, it enhances market understanding, aids in identifying high-profit areas, and helps design customized operational models. This holistic approach offers a competitive edge in an ever-changing market landscape. 
Graphic overview: By studying mobility data, getchee can assess consumer footfall within defined geographies and generate heat maps for specific categories of retail outlets – which enables them to identify optimal expansion opportunities for their clients.
5. Illustrating the Power of Partnership: Quadrant and Applied Post Case Study
A successful collaboration between Quadrant and Applied Post highlights the utility of location data in evaluating store performance, competition analysis, and optimizing marketing budget ROI. This partnership facilitated a home improvement retailer in assessing the effectiveness of an Out-of-Home (OOH) campaign and adjusting their marketing efforts to enhance customer loyalty. 
The graphic above depicts a view cone around an OOH ad.
The graphic above showcases geofences around rival home improvement brands.
The Quadrant x getchee webinar reinforced the power of location data in strategic decision-making for retail expansion, performance evaluation, and deep consumer behavior analysis. As markets and consumer behaviors continue to evolve, location data is rapidly becoming a crucial tool for sustained retail success.
If you missed the webinar, don't worry! You can download the recording and deep dive into these and other use cases!